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Old 05-09-2012, 10:38 AM   #13
SnowTroll
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 183
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Re: What do you look for in a mud?

I don't believe in traditional "enforcement" in a mud. I think that when a player logs into a game and flagrantly works against the game's rp atmosphere and rp rules, that attention-seeking player should just be ignored until he gets bored and goes away. If the player is really persistent, I suppose somebody with the power to do so can ban the player's IP address, but there are countless ways around that.

Likewise, there isn't a good way to "enforce" roleplaying in a traditional sense. You can't have players calling in a mud's administration every time they think another player isn't roleplaying right or roleplaying well enough, or every time another player, whether intentionally or unknowingly, breaks the atmosphere for a moment by asking you what level you are or where he can go kill stuff. The only way a game like this can be effectively enforced is if the dominant majority of the players are all dedicated roleplayers. If 90% of the people you meet in the game are going to ignore you if you talk out of character, or politely correct your behavior on a public out of character channel/newbie help line/message board/whatever, you'll either get with the program if you like the mud and want to give things a shot, or you'll quit and find something more your style. This isn't something that can be engineered with traditional rules and enforcement. It's something you create by advertising your mud as a roleplaying mud, making it clear from the get go as players go through the initial stages and the character creation process that it's a roleplaying mud where roleplaying is expected, and attract yourself a playerbase looking for exactly that kind of mud. If the players like your mud and stick around, they'll foster the rp atmosphere and ignore or correct non-roleplayers themselves. If your mud isn't a full-out, roleplay-required mud, then the people who get corrected and ignored are often the roleplayers. They can't tell others how to enjoy the game or what they can and can't or should and shouldn't do. They're relegated to a dark corner where they chat with each other all day and pretend the other half of the world doesn't exist in their little in character exchange.

On a personal note, I'm exactly the kind of player you described. I used to play muds daily and get heavily involved in hardcore roleplaying. Now I'm in my 30s with a full time job and family. I barely have time to play muds at all, much less get involved with intense rp situations where I'd have to be around each day to participate, help steer events, and keep tabs on things. When I do play games now, I actually look for more "rp-lite" muds with interesting gameplay. I still strongly prefer required roleplaying, but like a game where I can just log in for a little bit during what little spare time I have, kill, craft, or practice something if I don't have time to interact or don't feel like interacting, and just have some basic in character interaction when I feel like it, without having to worry about major plots and advancing my character socially by being around 23 hours a day to maintain my status. I don't know what the other 30-somethings prefer now that they're older. Maybe they like less roleplay-centered muds now and figure that if you're not going to rp hard, you might as well not rp.
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